Just curious... what happens to the "top 4%" from the scheduled May 13 NAQT-IS tournaments (e.g. the "Midwest Championship" in Indiana) who would have otherwise qualified to attend the HS NCT but *can't* now because the field is already full? Will they be automatically eligible for the 2007 HS NCT or what? Are they just OOL? (That's "out of luck", for the acronym-impaired among you...)

Everybody playing in the Midwest Championship has already qualified for Nationals. The idea behind the tournament was to be a warm-up for Nationals for teams who are going. I can't speak for any other tournaments...

One more thing, though... aren't there any Indiana teams who are going to the Midwest Championships? I'm asking because I don't see any Indiana teams in the HS NCT field. Is it just not a big quiz bowl/NAQT state?

I think NAC is pretty popular in Indiana, and that's part of the problem...

Also you mentioned "top 4%" but the NAQT qualification is normally top 15% (rounded up in any decimal situation). Perhaps you were confusing it with the PACE qualification, which is the top 4 teams (not percent) in the field, though that's a bit flexible I believe. Hope to see you Robinson people at the NSC this year (as well as at the HSNCT)

Matt Morrison, William & Mary '10, Tour Guide &c., MA in History '12?

"All the cool people eat mangoes while they smoke blunts and do cannonballs off a trampoline into my hot tub..."
-Matt Weiner

“In beer there is strength,
In wine is wisdom,
In water is germs.”
-Unknown

The Midwest Championships will have Culver Academies, Lafayette Harrison, and St. Joseph's (my team). Those three have played in each of the three Indiana NAQT tourneys this year. All three are excellent teams (though I'm obviously biased in favor of SJ). Both SJ and Harrison are attending NAC in DC this year; I'm not sure if Culver is going anywhere this year because of date conflicts.

The #1 reason my team attends NAC is tradition: we've been there for 17 of the last 18 years. (We attended ASCN the other and did not have a good experience.) The #2 reason is format: my players tell me they simply prefer the four-quarter format to the constant tossup-bonus format, even though they're good (and perhaps better) at the latter.

We are aware of some of the knocks on Chip, so please don't turn this discussion into a diatribe against him. :::sigh:::

Ben Dillon, Saint Joseph HS

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as
six impossible things before breakfast!"

Culver Academies attended PACE last year, because NAQT was on our graduation day. This year we again can't attend NAQT because it conflicts with graduation. Harrison and St. Joe's are both attending Chip's Tourney, and we will most likely not attend any of the other National Championships for scheduling and other reasons. All three teams, however, as indicated by Ben, are qualified for the HSNCT, which was the measuring stick to determine the target audience for the Midwest Championship.

I don't know about that, Alex. We attend KAAC's JV Challenge every year, even though it is a waste of money and there are better tournaments available. However, from a local standpoint, first in a mediocre local tournament is much better than second or third at a quality out of state invitational. Basically, when your school is poor, it helps a lot.

Attending NAC annually is hardly offensive. It is simply a choice people make. As we have no consensus in high school about what good quiz bowl is, we should expect this activity in most all its forms to continue. With NAQT filling up, I am sure the NAC might get even more teams.

Well, this is my last year, but I don't know. A lot of it depends on how much it costs etc. If we went to only one of the two (HSNCT and PACE) then I'm sure it would work, but a lot of our trips in the "regular season" involve buses, so money gets to be a problem toward the end of the year.

If it were just a matter of paying a lot of money for terrible questions and half the games of a real national, then I would simply pity those who made the aesthetic choice. But when Chip crossed the line and became a plagiarist, and when he fixed matches, this became an ethical matter. It is VERY offensive for anyone who knows better to condone his behavior.